Request routing processing

ABSTRACT

Generally described, the present disclosure is directed to managing request routing functionality corresponding to resource requests for one or more resources associated with a content provider. The processing of the DNS requests by the service provider can include the selective filtering of DNS queries associated with a DNS query-based attack. A service provider can assign DNS servers corresponding to a distributed set of network addresses, or portions of network addresses, such that DNS queries exceeding a threshold, such as in DNS query-based attacks, can be filtered in a manner that can mitigate performance impact on for the content provider or service provider.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/873,040, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,003,040, entitled “REQUEST ROUTINGPROCESSING” and filed Apr. 29, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/952,118, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,452,874,entitled “REQUEST ROUTING PROCESSING” and filed Nov. 22, 2010, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Generally described, computing devices and communication networks can beutilized to exchange information. In a common application, a computingdevice can request content from another computing device via thecommunication network. For example, a user at a personal computingdevice can utilize a software browser application to request a Web pagefrom a server computing device via the Internet. In such embodiments,the user computing device can be referred to as a client computingdevice and the server computing device can be referred to as a contentprovider.

Content providers are generally motivated to provide requested contentto client computing devices often with consideration of efficienttransmission of the requested content to the client computing device orconsideration of a cost associated with the transmission of the content.For larger scale implementations, a content provider may receive contentrequests from a high volume of client computing devices which can placea strain on the content provider's computing resources. Additionally,the content requested by the client computing devices may have a numberof components, which can further place additional strain on the contentprovider's computing resources.

In some embodiments, the content providers can utilize one or moreservice providers, such as content delivery network service providersand network storage service providers, to provide services related tothe delivery of requested content. In a similar manner, serviceproviders are generally motivated to provide services, such as hostingDNS request processing services or providing content to client computingdevices, often with consideration of the efficiency and cost associatedwith the requested services. For example, service providers oftenconsider factors such as latency of delivery of requested content inprocessing client computing device requests (either DNS queries orcontent requests) in order to meet service level agreements or togenerally improve the quality of delivered service. In some situations,the service providers may encounter that a number of service requestsprocessed on behalf of a content provider can exceed a threshold, suchas in accordance with a malicious attack or beyond an agreed up level ofservice. In situations related to malicious attacks, such as a DNS-basedattack, the level of service provided by the service provider to thetargeted content provider can be impacted and in some situations, theoverall function of the service provider can be affected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of thisinvention will become more readily appreciated as the same become betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description, whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrative of content delivery environmentincluding a number of client computing devices, a content provider, anetwork storage provider, and a content delivery network serviceprovider;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1illustrating the registration of a content provider with a networkstorage provider;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1illustrating the registration of a content provider with a serviceprovider for providing request routing services on behalf of the contentprovider;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the content delivery environment of FIG. 1illustrating the processing of request routing requests by a serviceprovider on behalf of the content provider;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are block diagrams of the content delivery environmentof FIG. 1 illustrating one embodiment of the processing of resourcerouting requests generated by client computing devices;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrative of a content provider requestrouting registration processing routine implemented by a serviceprovider; and

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrative of a request routing processingroutine implemented by a service provider.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally described, the present disclosure is directed to managingrequesting routing functionality corresponding to resource requests forone or more resources associated with a content provider. Aspects of thedisclosure will be described with regard to the management andprocessing request routing functionality by a service provider, such asa content delivery network (“CDN”) service provider, on behalf of anentity requesting the request routing functionality, such as a contentprovider. Illustratively, the request routing functionality cancorrespond to the processing, by computing devices associated with theservice provider, such as a DNS server component associated with aspecific network address, of domain name service (“DNS”) requests onbehalf of a content provider. The service provider DNS server componentsresolve the received DNS queries by identifying a network address of acomputing device that will provide requested resources, such as a cachecomponent. Additionally, in embodiments in which the number of DNSqueries issued to a targeted content provider domain exceeds athreshold, the service provider can selectively filter DNS queries tomitigate the effect of the incoming DNS queries. For example, insituations associated with a DNS query-based attack, some portion of theDNS queries can be filtered to mitigate the effect of the DNSquery-based attack.

In one embodiment, the service provider can assign a number of DNSserver components that will be authoritative for DNS queries to anidentified content provider domain on behalf of a content provider. Theassigned DNS server components correspond to network addresses that areselected by the service provider from a distributed set of serviceprovider network addresses in a manner that takes into consideration anumber of aspects. In one aspect, the service provider can implementprocesses for ensuring that no two domains, regardless of the owner, areserviced by service provider DNS server components in which the set DNSserver components have matching network addresses. In another aspect,the service provider can implement processes for ensuring that, for aspecific domain, the portion of the network addresses of the assignedDNS server components significant for network routing purposes do nothaving matching values and that the portion of the network addresses ofthe assigned DNS server component not significant for network routingpurposes also do not have matching values.

In embodiments in which the number of received DNS queries exceeds athreshold, such as in DNS query-based attacks, the service provider canimplement a number of techniques that results in the filtering of theDNS queries in a manner that can mitigate performance impact associatedwith the services provided to the content provider domain or the overallperformance of the service provider components. For example, the serviceprovider can facilitate the selective filtering of DNS queries from oneor more of the ranges of network addresses. In another example, theservice provider can facilitate the selective filtering of DNS queriesby configuring DNS queries directed toward a specific DNS server networkaddress to be processed by specific DNS server components, such as byforwarding DNS queries.

Although various aspects of the disclosure will be described with regardto illustrative examples and embodiments, one skilled in the art willappreciate that the disclosed embodiments and examples should not beconstrued as limiting. For example, the present disclosure may bedescribed with regard to request routing services provided by a serviceprovider, such as a CDN service provider, that may provide additionalservices and functionality including network-based storage services,caching services, and content delivery services. However, one skilled inthe relevant art will appreciate that a service provider need notprovide all, or any, of the additional services or functionality thatmay be associated with some service providers, such as a CDN serviceprovider. Likewise, although the present application will be discussedwith regard to a content provider as the requestor of services, such asthe DNS request processing services, the one skilled in the relevant artwill appreciate that the requestor of the service need not provide anyadditional functionality that may be otherwise attributed to contentproviders.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrative of content delivery environment100 for the managing registration of content provider with a serviceprovider, such as a CDN service provider, and subsequent processing ofat least a portion of content requests on behalf of the contentprovider. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the content delivery environment 100includes a number of client computing devices 102 (generally referred toas clients) for requesting content from a content provider, a networkstorage provider 110, and/or a service provider 106. In an illustrativeembodiment, the client computing devices 102 can correspond to a widevariety of computing devices including personal computing devices,laptop computing devices, hand-held computing devices, terminalcomputing devices, mobile devices, wireless devices, various electronicdevices and appliances and the like. In an illustrative embodiment, theclient computing devices 102 include necessary hardware and softwarecomponents for establishing communications over a communication network108, such as a wide area network or local area network. For example, theclient computing devices 102 may be equipped with networking equipmentand browser software applications that facilitate communications via theInternet or an intranet.

Although not illustrated in FIG. 1, each client computing device 102utilizes some type of local DNS resolver component, such as a DNS nameserver, that generates the DNS queries attributed to the clientcomputing device. In one embodiment, the local DNS resolver componentmay be provide by an enterprise network to which the client computingdevice 102 belongs. In another embodiment, the local DNS resolvercomponent may be provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) thatprovides the communication network connection to the client computingdevice 102.

The content delivery environment 100 can also include a content provider104 in communication with the one or more client computing devices 102via the communication network 108. The content provider 104 illustratedin FIG. 1 corresponds to a logical association of one or more computingdevices associated with a content provider. Specifically, the contentprovider 104 can include a web server component 112 corresponding to oneor more server computing devices for obtaining and processing requestsfor content (such as Web pages) from the client computing devices 102.The content provider 104 can further include an origin server component114 and associated storage component 116 corresponding to one or morecomputing devices for obtaining and processing requests for networkresources. One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that thecontent provider 104 can be associated with various additional computingresources, such additional computing devices for administration ofcontent and resources and the like. Additionally, although the originserver component 114 and associated storage component 116 are logicallyassociated with the content provider 104, the origin server component114 and associated storage components 116 may be geographicallydistributed throughout the communication network 108 in a manner to bestserve various demographics of client computing devices 102. Stillfurther, although illustrative components have been described withregard to the content provider 104, a content provider may have anyconfiguration of components associated with a domain addressable on thecommunication network 108.

As further illustrated in FIG. 1, the content provider 104 can beassociated with one or more DNS name server components 118 that areoperative to receive DNS queries related to registered domain namesassociated with the content provider. The one or more DNS name serverscan be authoritative to resolve client computing device DNS queriescorresponding to the registered domain names of the content provider104. A DNS name server component is considered to be authoritative to aDNS query if the DNS name server can resolve the query by providing aresponsive IP address. As will be explained in greater detail below, inaccordance with illustrative embodiments, at least a portion of therequest routing functionality provider the DNS name server components118 will be provided by a service provider on behalf of the contentprovider 104.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the content delivery environment 100can further include a service provider 106 in communication with the oneor more client computing devices 102, the content provider 104, and thenetwork storage provider 110 via the communication network 108. Theservice provider 106 illustrated in FIG. 1 corresponds to a logicalassociation of one or more computing devices associated with a serviceprovider. Specifically, the service provider 106 can include a number ofPoint of Presence (“POP”) locations 120, 126, 132 that correspond tonodes on the communication network 108. Each POP 120, 126, 132 includesa DNS component 122, 128, 134 made up of a number of DNS servercomputing devices for resolving DNS queries from the client computers102. Each POP 120, 126, 132 also optionally includes a resource cachecomponent 124, 130, 136 made up of a number of cache server computingdevices for storing resources from content providers or network storageproviders and transmitting various requested resources to various clientcomputers. The DNS components 122, 128, 134 and the resource cachecomponents 124, 130, 136 may further include additional software and/orhardware components that facilitate communications including, but notlimited, load balancing or load sharing software/hardware components.

In an illustrative embodiment, the DNS component 122, 128, 134 andresource cache component 124, 130, 136 are considered to be logicallygrouped, regardless of whether the components, or portions of thecomponents, are physically separate. Additionally, although the POPs120, 126, 132 are illustrated in FIG. 1 as logically associated with theCDN service provider 106, the POPs will be geographically distributedthroughout the communication network 108 in a manner to best servevarious demographics of client computing devices 102. Additionally, oneskilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the service provider106 can be associated with various additional computing resources, suchadditional computing devices for administration of content andresources, and the like.

With further continued reference to FIG. 1, the content deliveryenvironment 100 can also include a network storage provider 110 incommunication with the one or more client computing devices 102, theservice provider 106, and the content provider 104 via the communicationnetwork 108. The network storage provider 110 illustrated in FIG. 1 alsocorresponds to a logical association of one or more computing devicesassociated with a network storage provider. Specifically, the networkstorage provider 110 can include a number of network storage providerPoint of Presence (“NSP POP”) locations 138, 142 that correspond tonodes on the communication network 108. Each NSP POP 138, 142 includes astorage component 140, 144 made up of a number of storage devices forstoring resources from content providers which will be processed by thenetwork storage provider 110 and transmitted to various clientcomputers. The storage components 140, 144 may further includeadditional software and/or hardware components that facilitatecommunications including, but not limited to, load balancing or loadsharing software/hardware components.

In an illustrative embodiment, the storage components 140, 144 areconsidered to be logically grouped, regardless of whether thecomponents, or portions of the components, are physically separate.Additionally, although the NSP POPs 138, 142 are illustrated in FIG. 1as logically associated with the network storage provider 110, the NSPPOPs will be geographically distributed throughout the communicationnetwork 108 in a manner to best serve various demographics of clientcomputing devices 102. Additionally, one skilled in the relevant artwill appreciate that the network storage provider 110 can be associatedwith various additional computing resources, such additional computingdevices for administration of content and resources, DNS name servers,and the like.

Even further, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that thecomponents of the network storage provider 110 and components of theservice provider 106 can be managed by the same or different entities.One skilled in the relevant art will also appreciate that the componentsand configurations provided in FIG. 1 are illustrative in nature.Accordingly, additional or alternative components and/or configurations,especially regarding the additional components, systems, and subsystemsfor facilitating communications may be utilized. Specifically, oneskilled in the relevant art will appreciate the network storage provider110 may be omitted from the content delivery environment 100.

With reference now to FIGS. 2-5B, the interaction between variouscomponents of the content delivery environment 100 of FIG. 1 will beillustrated. For purposes of the example, however, the illustration hasbeen simplified such that many of the components utilized to facilitatecommunications are not shown. One skilled in the relevant art willappreciate that such components can be utilized and that additionalinteractions would accordingly occur without departing from the spiritand scope of the present disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 2, an illustrative interaction for the optionalregistration of a content provider 104 with the network storage provider110 for hosting content on behalf of the content provider 104 will bedescribed. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the storage provider contentregistration process begins with registration of the content provider104 with the network storage provider 110. In an illustrativeembodiment, the content provider 104 utilizes a registration applicationprogram interface (“API”) to register with the network storage provider110 such that the network storage provider 110 can provide content onbehalf of the content provider 104. The registration API can include theidentification of the origin server 114 of the content provider 104 thatmay provide requested resources to the network storage provider 110. Inaddition or alternatively, the registration API can include the contentto be stored by the network storage provider 110 on behalf of thecontent provider 104. In one embodiment, the network storage provider110 may act as an origin server for the content provider 104.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, upon receiving the registration API,the network storage provider 110 obtains and processes the contentprovider registration information. In an illustrative embodiment, thenetwork storage provider 110 can then generate additional informationthat will be used by the client computing devices 102 as part of thecontent requests. The additional information can include, withoutlimitation, content provider identifiers, such as content provideridentification codes, storage provider identifiers, such as storageprovider identification codes, executable code for processing resourceidentifiers, such as script-based instructions, and the like. Oneskilled in the relevant art will appreciate that various types ofadditional information may be generated by the network storage provider110 and that the additional information may be embodied in any one of avariety of formats.

In one embodiment, the network storage provider 110 returns anidentification of applicable domains for the network storage provider(unless it has been previously provided) and any additional informationto the content provider 104. In turn, the content provider 104 can thenprocess the stored content with content provider specific information.In one example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the content provider 104translates resource identifiers originally directed toward a domain ofthe origin server 114 to a domain corresponding to the network storageprovider 110. The translated URLs are embedded into requested content ina manner such that DNS queries for the translated URLs will resolve to aDNS server corresponding to the network storage provider 110 and not aDNS server corresponding to the content provider 104.

With reference now to FIG. 3, an illustrative interaction forregistration, by the content provider 104, to utilize the requestrouting services provided by the service provider 106 will be described.As illustrated in FIG. 3, the request routing service registrationprocess provided by the service provider 106 begins with registration ofthe content provider 104 with the service provider 106. In anillustrative embodiment, the content provider 104 utilizes aregistration API to register with the service provider 106 such that theservice provider 106 can provide request routing services on behalf ofthe content provider 104. The registration API includes theidentification of the domains for which the service provider 106 will beauthoritative (e.g., “contentprovider.com”), the identification of thestorage component 140, 144 of the network storage provider 110 or originservers 114 that will provide requested resources to the clientcomputing devices 102. The registration API can also include additionalinformation including request routing information, identificationinformation, or other information that will be used to resolve clientcomputing device DNS requests on behalf of the content provider 104, aswill be explained below.

The service provider 106 obtains the registration API and processes theinformation. In one aspect, the service provider 106 can generate thenecessary request processing rules or alternative identifiers that maybe utilized in the resolution of client computing device DNS queries. Inanother aspect, the service provider 106 can cause the registration ofits DNS nameserver components for the relevant domains specified by thecontent provider 104. The service provider 104 can then send a responseto the content provider 104, such as a confirmation. Responsive to theprocessing of the registration API, the service provider 106 canidentify the network addresses of the service provider DNS servers, suchas an Internet Protocol address, that will process DNS queries on behalfof the content provider 104. The content provider 104 can then delegatethe identified network addresses of the DNS servers that will beresponsible for the identified content provider domain (e.g.,“contentprovider.com”).

As will be explained in greater detail below, in one embodiment, theservice provider 106 can distribute, or otherwise assign, networkaddresses associated with the DNS server components that will beauthoritative to DNS requests to the content provider domain.Specifically, in embodiments in which the service provider 106 willassign a number of DNS server components that will be authoritative fora content provider domain, the service provider can first create anumber of subdivisions, or zones, of network addresses available to theservice provider. The number of subdivisions or zones corresponds to adistribution of the network addresses such that a selection of a networkaddress from each of the subdivisions or zones ensures that a particulardomain's DNS server components have distributed network addresses andavoids situations in which any two assigned DNS server components wouldhave completely overlapping, or exactly matching, network addresses(unless the number of subdivisions or zones is less than the number ofDNS server components being assigned as authoritative for a domain). Thedistribution from different subdivisions can be generally referred to asa “non-overlapping distribution.”

For purposes of an illustrative example, assume that the serviceprovider 106 has a pool of available network addresses. The serviceprovider 106 can organize the pool into two or more ranges of networkaddresses. For example, the ranges can be defined in a manner such thateach network address having a common highest ordered octet could beconsidered to be in the same range. In another example, the ranges canbe defined in a manner such two or more ranges may share a commonhighest ordered octet, but are distinguished by different second octets.Further, in another embodiment, the ranges of network addresses cancorrespond to a number of network addresses available for assignment. Inalternative embodiments, at least one range of network address cancorrespond to a single network address for assignment.

As discussed above, each range of network addresses can be considered toa subdivision or zone of the available network addresses. In one aspect,if the number of subdivisions is equal or greater than the number ofnetwork addresses that need to be assigned, the service provider 106ensures a distribution of network addresses for the DNS servercomponents such that no two network addresses will be matching byselecting a network address from different subdivisions. With referenceto the previous example in which ranges are determined according to thehighest ordered octet of the network address, each selected networkaddress would correspond to a different value of the highest orderoctet, which ensures that at least that portion of the network addressesdo not overlap (e.g., the second, third, fourth octets) and that no twonetwork addresses for the particular domain will be matching. Withreference to another example in which two ranges share common first andsecond octets, each selected network address would correspond to adifferent value of the third order octet, which still ensures that atleast that portion of the network addresses do not overlap and that notwo network addresses for the particular domain will be matching.Depending on the pool of network addresses available to the serviceprovider 106, the ranges of network addresses associated with eachsubdivision or zone can be configured in various manners depending onthe desired distribution of network addresses, the total number ofavailable network addresses and the differences in values among theavailable network addresses.

In some embodiments, in addition to ensuring a “non-overlapping”distribution of assigned network addresses for a specific domain, if theservice provider 106 processes multiple requests for different domains,there is the possibility that such a non-overlapping distribution couldresult in two or more different domains having at least one assigned DNSnetwork address that matches. In some embodiments, the service provider106 may wish to establish a threshold number of network addresses thatcan be matched across unrelated domains (e.g., one, two, three, etc.)or, conversely, a minimum number of network addresses that are notexactly matching between any two non-related domains. Accordingly, theservice provider 106 can include different levels of processingregarding any potentially matching assigned network address inaccordance with the established threshold of number of acceptablematching network addresses.

In one embodiment, if the threshold is set to zero such that there canbe no matching network addresses, the service provider 106 can ensurethat the assigned network addresses of DNS servers do not overlap byremoving a DNS server's network address from the pool of availablenetwork addresses has been assigned. One example of such a scenario isif there are two or more hosted domains that have a common name (e.g.,www.domain.com) and therefore, cannot have any matching DNS servercomponent network addresses. In another embodiment, it may be possiblefor two domains to share one or more assigned network address of a DNSserver component. However, it may be desirable for the service provider106 to ensure that no two specific domains are assigned the exact samenetwork addresses from each of the subdivisions or that, for any twodomains, no more than half of the assigned DNS server component networkaddresses are matching. In such embodiments, the service provider 106can conduct additional processing to ensure and correct for matchingnetwork addresses, such as by reducing the number of matching networkaddresses below the threshold.

In addition to ensuring that assigned network addresses for a specificdomain are distributed in a non-overlapping manner and further ensuringthat the number of matching network addresses with regard to anotherdomain are not above a threshold, in another embodiment, the serviceprovider 106 can select portions of the selected network addresses fromeach subdivision such that there is further no overlap in the portionsof the selected network addresses that are not typically consideredsignificant for purposes of routing. Specifically, in one embodiment,the network addresses can corresponds to a number of bits that aredivided into octets having unique values. For example, a 16-bit networkaddress can be represented in the form of xx.xx.xx.xx in which each xxpair is an octet. Likewise, a 24-bit network address can be representedin the form of yy.yy.yy.yy.yy.yy in which each yy pair represented byfour bits. In accordance with network routing principles, a portion ofthe network address is utilized for network routing (e.g., the first 2or 3 octets) and is generally referred to as the “most significantportion of the network address” or the “network portion of the networkaddress.” The remaining portion of the network address (e.g., the lastoctet) is not considered to be significant for purposes of networkrouting and is generally referred to as the “non-significant portion ofthe network address” or the “host portion of the network address.” Oneskilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the number of octets ina network address that are considered “significant” or “non-significant”may vary according to the specific network protocol being utilized, theconfiguration of network routing equipment, and other criteria.Accordingly, the example number of octets utilized to illustrate thedifference between the significant and non-significant portions of anetwork address are illustrative in nature and should not be construedas limiting.

For purposes of network routing, network addresses are considered to benon-overlapping or non-matching so long as the significant portions ofthe network addresses do not exactly match, regardless of whether thereare one or more matching octets. The non-significant portions of thenetwork address are effectively ignored for purposes of network routing.Accordingly, in this embodiment, the service provider 106 can selectdifferent values for the non-significant portions of the selectednetwork addresses for a specific domain such that there is also nooverlap the non-significant portions of the selected network address fora specific domain do not exactly match, even if there is some partialmatching.

With reference to the previous example, if we assume that four networkaddresses are selected and the non-significant portion of the networkaddresses correspond to the last octet in the network address, thenon-significant portion of the network addresses can be subdivided intofour ranges of values such there is no overlap in the assigned valuesfor the least most significant bits. Continuing with this example, thelast octet has a range of 256 total potential values. Since each domainis illustratively associated with four network addresses, the potentialvalues of the last octet can be divided into ranges of values of 1-63,64-127, 128-191, and 192-255. Accordingly, the value of the last octetfor the first assigned network address would be picked from the range of1-63; the value of the last octet for the second assigned networkaddress would be picked from the range of 64-127; the value of the lastoctet for the third assigned network address would be picked from therange of 128-191; and the value of the last octet for the fourthassigned network address would be picked from the range of 192-255.Thus, in this embodiment, the resulting assigned network addresses wouldbe completely non-overlapping with regard to not only the significantportions of the network addresses but also with regard to thenon-overlapping portions of the network addresses.

In the event that a number of DNS queries exceed a threshold, such dueto a DNS query based attack or due to a spike in requests, the serviceprovider 106 can selectively filter DNS queries from one or moreselected network address. If the “excessive” DNS queries are targetedtoward a specific content provider, the service provider 106 may be ableto maintain some DNS query functionality by filtering out less than allthe assigned subdivisions for the targeted domain. Additionally, theservice provider 106 can also mitigate the impact of such excessive DNSqueries to the request routing services provided to other non-targetedcontent providers by filtering out some or all of the assignedsubdivisions for the targeted domain or by limiting the processing ofDNS queries to a targeted domain to specific physical computing devices.Still further, the service provider 106 can forward some portion of theDNS queries to different points of presence or DNS server components tohelp mitigate the impact of the number of DNS queries.

Illustratively, upon the optional identification of appropriate storagecomponent 140, 144, 148 of the network storage provider 110 and theregistration for request routing functionality with the service provider106, the content provider 104 can, in one embodiment as will be furtherdescribed below in reference to FIGS. 4 and 5A and 5B, begin to processDNS requests for content generated on behalf of the client computingdevices 102. Specifically, in accordance with DNS routing principles, aclient computing device DNS query corresponding to a resource identifierwould eventually be resolved by identifying a network addresscorresponding to either the origin server component 114 and associatedstorage component 116 or storage component 140, 144, 148 of the networkstorage provider 110 by a DNS nameserver associated with the serviceprovider 106.

Turning now to FIG. 4, in accordance with one embodiment once theservice provider 106 has begun processing request routing functionalityon behalf of the content provider, a client computing device 102 issuesa DNS query for the content provider domain (e.g.,“contentprovider.com”). Illustratively, the client computing device 102,such as through a browser software application, issues a DNS query forthe content provider domain that first results in the identification ofa DNS server authoritative to the “.” and the “com” portions of thedomain. After partially resolving the domain according to the “.” and“com” portions of the domain, the client computing device 102 thenissues another DNS query for the URL that results in “.contentprovider”portion of the domain. The issuance of DNS queries corresponding to the“.” and the “com” portions of a domain are well known and have not beenillustrated.

In an illustrative embodiment, the identification of the identificationof a DNS server authoritative to the “contentprovider” corresponds toone of the assigned IP addresses of a DNS server associated with theservice provider 106. In one embodiment, the IP address is a specificnetwork address unique to DNS server component(s) of a specific POPassociated with the service provider 106. In another embodiment, the IPaddress can be shared by one or more POPs associated with the serviceprovider 106, which may be geographically or logically distributed. Inthis embodiment, a DNS query to the shared IP address utilizes aone-to-many network routing schema, such as anycast, such a specific POPwill receive the request as a function of network topology. For example,in an anycast implementation, a DNS query issued by a client computingdevice 102 to a shared IP address will arrive at a DNS server componentof the service provider 106 logically having the shortest networktopology distance, often referred to as network hops, from the clientcomputing device. The network topology distance does not necessarilycorrespond to geographic distance. However, in some embodiments, thenetwork topology distance can be inferred to be the shortest networkdistance between a client computing device 102 and a service providerPOP.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a DNS server component of the service provider106 obtains the DNS query and can resolve the DNS query by providing anetwork address, such as an IP address, of a component for providing therequest content. For example, the receiving DNS server component mayprovide an IP address of a Web server that can provide a requested Webpage. In another example, the DNS server may provider an IP address of acache component that may provide a request resource or file. In analternative embodiment, the DNS server component may also providealternative identifiers, such as canonical names (“CNAMES”) that can beused to refine request routing processing. In the example illustrated inFIG. 4, it is assumed that the DNS query transmitted by the clientcomputing device 102 can be processed.

Turning now to FIGS. 5A and 5B, in other embodiments, the serviceprovider 106 may obtain a number of DNS queries for a domain such thatthe number of DNS queries exceeds a threshold. As illustrated in FIG.5A, exceeded threshold may be indicative of a DNS-based network attackin which multiple client computing devices 102 attempt to overload acontent provider domain with DNS queries. The exceeded threshold mayalso be indicative of spikes in content requests or correspond to anumber of DNS queries that exceeds agreed upon service levels. In oneaspect, the multiple DNS queries may be directed to one of the specificassigned network addresses of the DNS server components processing DNSqueries on behalf of the content provider 104. In another aspect, themultiple DNS queries may be directed to all the specific assignednetwork addresses for the content provider 104. Still further, inanother aspect, the multiple DNS queries may not be targeted only to aspecific content provider domain and may be indicative of a larger,network based attack.

In order to mitigate the impact of the DNS queries that have exceeded athreshold (or will exceed a threshold), the service provider 106 canbegin causing the selective filtering at least portions of the DNSqueries directed to one or more of the assigned network addresses.Specifically, in one embodiment, the service provider 106 can issuecommands or utilize routing protocols that cause DNS queries to befiltered in the communication network 108 prior to being received by theservice provider 106. For example, the service provider 106 can utilizea null route injection for identified network addresses that networkingequipment, such as routers, to prevent the forwarding of the DNSqueries.

With reference to FIG. 5B, in addition to the filtering of DNS queriesin the communication network 108, the service provider 106 can utilizerouter access control lists to filter, or otherwise block, DNS queriesdirected to one or more of the assigned network address subdivisions orzones that are received at the service provider. If the DNS queriesassociated with the exceeded threshold are targeted to a particularsubdivision or zone, the service provider 106 can further filter theexcessive DNS queries to the targeted network address. If the DNSqueries associated with the exceeded threshold are targeted to a largernumber of subdivisions or zones, the service provider 106 can filter allthe targeted domains to effectively stop queries.

Alternatively, the service provider can filter a percentage of zones inan effort to maintain a percentage DNS query processing functionality.For example, if a content provider 104 has been associated with a DNSserver component for each of four zones, the service provider 106 canfilter half of the assigned network addresses to maintain operation ofthe request routing functionality at least at a fifty percent level. Asillustrated in FIG. 5B, by filtering only certain network address zones,at least some portion of DNS queries for the “targeted” content provideror other content providers, such as by client computing device 102Z cancontinued to be processed. Additionally, the service provider 106 canconfigure one or more specific DNS server components to process anyremaining DNS queries that have not been filtered in the communicationnetwork 108 or by the service provider. Still further, the serverprovider 106 can forward at least a portion of the non-filtered DNSqueries to other DNS server components that may be better suited toprocess the non-filtered DNS queries or to distribute the load at aspecific POP.

With reference now to FIG. 6, one embodiment of a routine 600implemented by a service provider 106 for managing registration ofcontent provider 104 will be described. One skilled in the relevant artwill appreciate that actions/steps outlined for routine 600 may beimplemented by one or many computing devices/components that areassociated with the service provider 106, such as a DNS query processingcomponent or a point of presence associated with the service provider.Accordingly, routine 600 has been logically associated as beinggenerally performed by the service provider 106, and thus the followingillustrative embodiments should not be construed as limiting.

At block 602, the service provider 106 obtains a request for providingDNS request routing services on behalf of a content provider 104.Illustratively, the request for providing DNS request routing servicesmay be facilitated through a registration API in which the contentprovider specifies information necessary for the service provider 106 tobegin hosting DNS nameserver functionality on behalf of the contentprovider. The transmission of the registration API (and associatedinformation) may be an automatic process corresponding to an exchange ofinformation between computing devices without need for administrator, orother human interaction. Alternatively, the transmission of theregistration API (and associated information) may be an automaticprocess may be a manual, or semi-manual, process in which anadministrator specifies at least a portion of the information necessaryfor the service provider 106 to begin hosting DNS nameserverfunctionality on behalf of the content provider.

At block 604, the service provider 106 determines a number of assignablenetwork address subdivisions or zones. As previously described, in oneembodiment, the service provider 106 may maintain two or more ranges ofDNS server network addresses that can be assigned to content providers.Illustratively, the service provider can maintain a pool of availablenetwork addresses that correspond to the DNS server components that canbe assigned to a content provider. Accordingly, the service provider 106can organize the pool into two or more ranges of network addresses inwhich each range of network addresses corresponds to a subdivision orzone. As explained above, the service provider 106 can further selectnetwork addresses from the subdivisions to ensure that, for a specificdomain, at least the significant portions of the set of assigned networkaddresses will not have any exactly matching values, regardless ofwhether is at least some common values.

At block 606, the first network address subdivision is selected as acurrent network address subdivision and at block 608, the serviceprovider 106 assigns a network address from the current network addresssubdivision. In an illustrative embodiment, in addition to the selectionof a unique network address from the range of network addressesassociated with the current network address subdivision, block 608 canalso correspond to the service provider 106 selecting a value for thenon-significant portion of the selected network addresses such that fora specific domain, at least the non-significant portions of the set ofassigned network addresses also will not have any exactly matchingvalues. One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that thenon-significant portions of the set of assigned network addresses willnot be considered matching solely because some portion of the networkaddresses have common values. Still further, block 608 can alsocorrespond to the service provider 106 can also conduct additionalprocessing such that for two domains, regardless of ownership, the setof assigned network addresses (either significant portions or acombination of significant and non-significant portions) will have morethan a threshold number of exactly matching network addresses.Additionally, the service provider 106 can also conduct some type ofconflict resolution such that the assigned network address would notconflict with a previously assigned network address for any domain thatwould be considered a parent domain, a child domain, a sibling domain,etc. In such embodiment, the pool of available network addresses may befiltered to remove any potentially conflicting network addresses.

At decision block 610, a test is conducted to determine whetheradditional network subdivisions exist. If so, at block 612, the serviceprovider 106 selects a next network address subdivision as the currentnetwork address subdivision and the routine 600 proceeds to block 608 toselect another network address for the current subdivision. Withreference to the previous example, the routine 600 can repeat to assigna network address for each of the remaining three network addresssubdivision ranges and values for the non-significant portions of thenetwork address (e.g., ranges of 64-127, 128-191, and 192-254 for thelast octet of the assigned network addresses). Additionally, the routine600 can provide the additional conflict resolution or other limitationtechniques, described above, to filter out network addresses that shouldnot be assigned to the content provider. However, in alternativeembodiment, the service provider 106 may not necessarily assign networkaddresses from all the available network address subdivisions or zones.

Once all the network addresses have been assigned, at block 614, theservice provider 106 transmits assigned network addresses in response tothe request for DNS service hosting. Based on the identified networkaddresses, the content provider can delegate the identified domain tothe assigned network addresses. One skilled in the relevant art willappreciate that upon delegation of the assigned network addresses (orDNS nameserver names), the service provider 106 can host the DNSnameserver components on different computing devices in a manner thateach physical computing device can correspond to one subdivision or zoneor less than all the subdivisions or zones. At block 616, the routine600 ends.

With reference now to FIG. 7, one embodiment of a routine 700implemented by the service provider 106 for processing DNS requests willbe described. Similar to FIG. 6, one skilled in the relevant art willappreciate that actions/steps outlined for routine 700 may beimplemented by one or many computing devices/components that areassociated with the service provider 106. Accordingly, routine 700 hasbeen logically associated as being generally performed by the serviceprovider 106, and thus the following illustrative embodiments should notbe construed as limiting.

At block 702, the service provider 106 obtains one or more DNS queriesfrom client computing devices 102. Illustratively, the DNS queries aredescribed as originating from separate client computing devices 102.However, at least some portion of the DNS queries may be transmitted bythe same client computing device 102 or from some other componentconfigured in a manner to generate multiple DNS queries. Additionally,in an alternative embodiment, the service provider 106 may receive anindication as to the number of DNS queries being transmitted withoutactual receipt of the DNS queries by the service provider.

At block 704, the service provider 106 associates the DNS queries with aset of DNS queries that have exceeded a threshold. As previouslydescribed, the exceeded threshold may be indicative of a DNS-basednetwork attack in which multiple client computing devices 102 attempt tooverload a content provider domain with DNS queries. The exceededthreshold may also be indicative of spikes in content requests orcorrespond to a number of DNS queries that exceeds agreed upon servicelevels. In one aspect, the multiple DNS queries may be directed to aspecific assigned network address for the content provider 104. Inanother aspect, the multiple DNS queries may be directed to all thespecific assigned network addresses for the content provider 104. Stillfurther, in another aspect, the multiple DNS queries may not be targetedonly to a specific content provider domain and may be indicative of alarger, network based attack. One skilled in the relevant art willappreciate that the association of the DNS queries may also bedetermined by criteria other than the number of DNS queries, such as bythe source of the DNS query (e.g., from a known bad actor or IP address)or based on signature mapping of the DNS query (e.g., knownidentification information in the DNS query).

At block 706, the service provider 106 determines network addressattributes of the DNS queries that have exceeded the threshold (e.g.,the “DNS query attack”). In one aspect, the service provider 106 mayidentify all the specific network addresses that have been targeted. Inanother aspect, the service provider 106 may determine a percentage oftargeted network addresses to attempt to block or filter. At decisionblock 708, a test is conducted to determine whether to filter thereceived DNS queries. As previously described, the service provider 106may attempt to filter all DNS queries to a particular network address ifonly a portion of the network addresses associated with a contentprovider are targeted or based on a determination that the serviceprovider request routing services would be compromised. In anotherexample, if multiple network addresses are targeted the service provider106 may determine to filter a percentage of the network address tomaintain some request routing functionality on behalf of the contentprovider 104.

If the service provider 106 determines to filter the DNS queries, atblock 710, the service provider filters, or otherwise blocks, the DNSqueries. In one embodiment, the service provider 106 may utilize acommunication or routing protocol to cause network-based equipment, suchas routers, to filter all DNS queries corresponding to an identified IPaddress prior to being received by the service provider. As previouslydescribed, an example of such a routing protocol would be theutilization of null route injunction command/information. In anotherembodiment, the service provider 106 can filter the DNS queries as theyare received by the service provider network. For example, the serviceprovider can utilize router access control lists that can be configuredto block requests to specific network addresses as the requests arereceived by the routers. Alternatively, if the service provider 106determines not to filter, the service provider, through a receiving DNSserver component, processes the received DNS query. As previouslydescribed, the service provider can configure specific hardwarecomputing devices to be responsive to any non-blocked network addresses.In a further embodiment, the service provider 106 can also direct DNSqueries targeted to one or more assigned network addresses to specificDNS components within the service provider network. For example, theservice provider 106 can forward one or more DNS queries via thecommunication network, such as a communication tunnel. At block 714, theroutine 700 ends.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and others that allof the functions described in this disclosure may be embodied insoftware executed by one or more processors of the disclosed componentsand mobile communication devices. The software may be persistentlystored in any type of non-volatile storage.

Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understoodwithin the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certainembodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certainfeatures, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is notgenerally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are inany way required for one or more embodiments or that one or moreembodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without userinput or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps areincluded or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executedout of order from that shown or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art. It willfurther be appreciated that the data and/or components described abovemay be stored on a computer-readable medium and loaded into memory ofthe computing device using a drive mechanism associated with a computerreadable medium storing the computer executable components such as aCD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or network interface further, the component and/or datacan be included in a single device or distributed in any manner.Accordingly, general purpose computing devices may be configured toimplement the processes, algorithms, and methodology of the presentdisclosure with the processing and/or execution of the various dataand/or components described above.

It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may bemade to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to beunderstood as being among other acceptable examples. All suchmodifications and variations are intended to be included herein withinthe scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for managing DNSqueries comprising: determining, at a service provider, whether DNSqueries associated with an identifiable domain exceed a threshold numberof DNS queries that can be processed by a service provider; determining,at the service provider, whether to filter the one or more DNS queriesbased on the threshold number of DNS queries; and causing, at theservice provider, the filtering of at least one of the one or more DNSqueries based on the threshold number of DNS queries, wherein thefiltering of the at least one or more DNS queries comprises filtering atleast one of the one or more DNS queries based on assigned networkaddresses for a DNS server authoritative for the identified domain, andwherein causing the filtering of at least one of the one or more DNSqueries based on the threshold number of DNS queries comprises causingthe filtering of at least one or more DNS queries received at theservice provider and directed to one or more assigned network addresssubdivisions or zones available to the service provider based on accesscontrol lists.
 2. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1,wherein causing the filtering of at least one of the one or more DNSqueries includes causing at least one of the one or more DNS queries tobe answered by an alternative set of DNS servers.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein causing thefiltering of at least one of the one or more DNS queries includestransmitting a request to filter one or more DNS queries for domains inwhich service provider DNS servers are authoritative.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein determiningwhether to filter the one or more DNS queries includes determiningwhether to filter based on a percentage of DNS queries allowed to beprocessed.
 5. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1further comprising obtaining, at the service provider, at least aportion of the one or more DNS queries associated with the identifiabledomain.
 6. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1 furthercomprising: determining, at the service provider, whether DNS queriesassociated with a different identifiable domain exceed a thresholdnumber of DNS queries that can be processed by a service provider; anddetermining, by the service provider, not to filter the one or more DNSqueries associated with a different identifiable domain, wherein thedetermination corresponds to a percentage of DNS queries allowed to beprocessed.
 7. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 2,wherein causing at least one of the one or more DNS queries to beanswered by an alternative set of DNS servers includes forwarding the atleast one of the one or more DNS queries to the alternative set of DNSservers.
 8. A system for DNS query processing comprising: a DNS queryprocessor, at a service provider, coupled to memory and operative to:obtain registration information for registering one or more contentproviders with the service provider, the registration corresponding tohosting at least a portion of request routing functionality associatedwith one or more resources provided by the content provider; determinewhether DNS queries associated with an identifiable domain exceed athreshold number of DNS queries that can be processed by the serviceprovider; determine whether to filter the one or more DNS queries basedon the threshold number of DNS queries; and cause the filtering of atleast one of the one or more DNS queries based on the threshold numberof DNS queries, wherein the filtering of the at least one or more DNSqueries comprises filtering at least one of the one or more DNS queriesbased on assigned network addresses for a DNS server authoritative forthe identified domain, and wherein causing the filtering of at least oneof the one or more DNS queries based on the threshold number of DNSqueries comprises causing the filtering of at least one or more DNSqueries received at the service provider and directed to one or moreassigned network address subdivisions or zones available to the serviceprovider based on access control lists.
 9. The system as recited inclaim 8, wherein the range of available service provider networkaddresses corresponds to a plurality of network address zone such thateach network address zone is defined according to a division ofavailable network addresses for service provider DNS server components.10. The system as recited in claim 8, wherein the DNS query processor isfurther operative to: obtain one or more additional DNS queries, theadditional DNS queries corresponding to the identifiable domain, whereinthe DNS server component corresponds to a different assigned networkfrom a range of available service provider network addresses; associatethe one or more DNS queries with the identified set of DNS queriesexceeding a threshold number of DNS queries that can be processed by aservice provider; and determine not to filter the one or more DNSqueries.
 11. The system as recited in claim 8, wherein the DNS queryprocessor selectively filters the DNS queries causing at least one ofthe one or more DNS queries to be answered by an alternative set of DNSservers.
 12. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein the DNS queryprocessor causes at least one of the one or more DNS queries to beanswered by an alternative set of DNS servers by forwarding the at leastone of the one or more DNS queries to the alternative set of DNSservers.
 13. The system as recited in claim 8, wherein the DNS queryprocessor determines whether to filter the one or more DNS queries basedon the associated set of DNS queries based on a percentage of DNSqueries allowed to be processed.
 14. A non-transitory, computer-readablestorage medium having one or more computer-executable components formanaging DNS queries, the one or more computer-executable componentscomprising computer-executable instructions to: determine, at a serviceprovider, whether DNS queries associated with an identifiable domainexceed a threshold number of DNS queries that can be processed by aservice provider; determine, at the service provider, whether to filterthe one or more DNS queries based on the threshold number of DNSqueries; and cause, at the service provider, the filtering of at leastone of the one or more DNS queries based on the threshold number of DNSqueries, wherein the filtering of the at least one or more DNS queriescomprises filtering at least one of the one or more DNS queries based onassigned network addresses for a DNS server authoritative for theidentified domain, and wherein causing the filtering of at least one ofthe one or more DNS queries based on the threshold number of DNS queriescomprises causing the filtering of at least one or more DNS queriesreceived at the service provider and directed to one or more assignednetwork address subdivisions or zones available to the service providerbased on access control lists.
 15. The computer-readable storage mediumas recited in claim 14, wherein determining whether to filter the one ormore DNS queries includes determining whether to filter based on apercentage of DNS queries allowed to be processed.
 16. Thecomputer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 14, wherein causingthe filtering of at least one of the one or more DNS queries includescausing at least one of the one or more DNS queries to be answered by analternative set of DNS servers.
 17. The computer-readable storage mediumas recited in claim 16, wherein causing at least one of the one or moreDNS queries to be answered by an alternative set of DNS servers includesforwarding the at least one of the one or more DNS queries to thealternative set of DNS servers.
 18. The computer-readable storage mediumas recited in claim 14, wherein causing the filtering of at least one ofthe one or more DNS queries includes transmitting a request to filterone or more DNS queries for domains in which service provider DNSservers are authoritative.